Michael Craven’s Philosophy Recommendations

Michael Craven of the Center For Christ and Culture recommends the following books on Philosophy for equipping the Church to engage the culture with the redemptive mission of Christ:

• Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview, by J.P. Moreland & William Lane Craig
• How Postmodernism Serves (My) Faith: Questioning Truth in Language, Philosophy And Art, by Crystal L. Downing
• The Right Darwin?: Evolution, Religion, and the Future of Democracy, by Carson Holloway
• True Truth: Defending Absolute Truth in a Relativistic World, by Art Lindsley
• Faith and Reason, by Ronald H. Nash
• Proper Confidence: Faith, Doubt, and Certainty in Christian Discipleship, by Lesslie Newbigin

Cultural Criticism and Apologetics

The 2008 U.S. Religious Landscape Survey conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life indicates that the United States is becoming less Protestant. American religious sentiment is becoming more diverse with a larger number than ever dropping any connection to a specific religious tradition.

In such an environment, Christians need to be prepared to engage the culture effectively. To that end Michael Craven of the Center For Christ and Culture recommends the following books on Culture and Apologetics:

Culture

• The Culture of Narcissism: American Life in an Age of Diminishing Expectations, by Christopher Lasch
• Culture Wars: The Struggle To Define America, by James Davison Hunter
• Bowling Alone : The Collapse and Revival of American Community, by Robert D. Putnam
• Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business, by Neil Postman
• On Earth as It Is in Advertising?: Moving from Commercial Hype to Gospel Hope, by Sam Van Eman
• Prophetic Untimeliness: A Challenge to the Idol of Relevance, by Os Guinness
• The Rape of the Masters: How Political Correctness Sabotages Art, by Roger Kimball
• Art And the Bible, by Francis A. Schaeffer
• Why America Needs Religion: Secular Modernity and Its Discontents, by Guenter Lewy

Apologetics

• Apologetics to the Glory of God: An Introduction, by John H. Frame
• Christian Apologetics, by Cornelius Van Til
• The Defense of the Faith, by Cornelius Van Til
• Tearing Down Strongholds: And Defending the Truth, by R. C. Sproul
• Christian Apologetics, by Norman Geisler
• Christian Ethics: Options and Issues, by Norman Geisler
• The New Evidence That Demands A Verdict Fully Updated To Answer The Questions Challenging Christians Today, by Josh McDowell
• Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics, by Norman L. Geisler

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RELATED CONTENT

• Apologetics and Evangelism Bibliography of Kenneth Boa & Larry Moody
• C.S. Lewis – Select Quotes
• Asking Questions of Christianity

Christian Worldview Recommendations of Michael Craven

Michael Craven of the Center For Christ and Culture recommends the following books on understanding and developing a Christian Worldview;

• Uncompromised Faith: Overcoming Our Culturalized Christianity
• Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity
• Christ and Culture
• The Opening of the Christian Mind: Taking Every Thought Captive to Christ
• Foolishness to the Greeks: The Gospel and Western Culture
• How Should We Then Live?: The Rise and Decline of Western Thought and Culture
• What Is Truth?: A Comparative Study of the Positions of Cornelius Van Til, Francis Schaeffer, Carl F. H. Henry, Donald Bloesch, Millard Erickson
• Building a Christian Worldview
• Clash Of Orthodoxies: Law Religion & Morality In Crisis
• How Now Shall We Live?
• Fit Bodies Fat Minds: Why Evangelicals Don’t Think and What to Do About It
• Truth to Tell: The Gospel as Public Truth
• The Lost History of Christianity: The Thousand-Year Golden Age of the Church in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia–and How It Died

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RELATED CONTENT

• Tom Ascol’s book recommendations on Christianity & Culture
• Required reading in the course “Christian Worldview Studies” taught by Dr. Chris Leland at Focus on the Family Institute

Christianity and Culture

Grace Baptist Church (Cape Coral, Florida), pastored by Tom Ascol, lists on its website the following list of recommended books in the area of “Christianity and Culture”:

• Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling by Andy Crouch
• unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity… and Why It Matters by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons
• They Like Jesus but Not the Church: Insights from Emerging Generations by Dan Kimball
• The Unchurched Next Door: Understanding Faith Stages as Keys to Sharing Your Faith by Thom Rainer
• Christ and Culture Revisited by D.A. Carson
• Jesus Made in America: A Cultural History from the Puritans to the Passion of the Christ by Stephen Nichols
• Culture Shift: Engaging Current Issues with Timeless Truth by R. Albert Mohler

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RELATED

The Cultural Milieu – Book Recommendations

Christian Worldview – Book Recommendations

Apologetics – Book Recommendations

Reclaiming The Center: Confronting Evangelical Accommodation In Postmodern Times

“When evangelicals confuse an improper passion for novelty with a proper pursuit of academic and pastoral relevance, the results can be distressing. I cannot express how grateful I am for the well-formed wisdom with which this book points to the abiding and decisive relevance for future route-finding of the old theological paths.”
—J. I. Packer, Professor, Regent College

“For those evangelicals who—like myself—are increasingly troubled by extravagant claims made by various evangelical scholars about the nature of the ‘postmodern’ challenge, as well as by earnest calls to develop new epistemological and theological perspectives in response to this challenge, the writers of these essays shed much light. This book is must-reading for everyone who wants to promote a clear-thinking evangelicalism for our contemporary context.”
—Richard J. Mouw, President and Professor of Christian Philosophy, Fuller Seminary

“Here is a collection of intelligent, provocative, gutsy essays that dare to fly into the eye of the scholarly storm over evangelical identity. Though different perspectives are present even here, the underlying thesis is clear and worth heeding: the eager, and sometimes uncritical, embrace of postmodernist paradigms may be as premature as it has proven to be unproductive for the well-being of the evangelical church. One of the most important books of the new century!”
—Timothy George, Dean, Beeson Divinity School, Samford University

“Provocative, timely, and controversial!”
—Donald G. Bloesch, Professor of Theology Emeritus, Dubuque Theological Seminary

“Compromise and confusion stand at the center of evangelicalism’s theological crisis, and a clear-headed and convictional analysis of the problem has been desperately needed. Thankfully, Reclaiming the Center has arrived just in time. . . . My fervent hope is that it will open evangelical eyes, humble evangelical hearts, and awaken this generation to the peril of accommodationism.”
—R. Albert Mohler, Jr., President, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

“The authors of this well-designed volume provide a bold and well-argued response to what is sometimes called ‘postconservative evangelicalism.’ This important conversation regarding the essence, center, and boundaries of evangelicalism is here explored, interpreted, and assessed from a well-informed theological, philosophical, and historical perspective. . . . I heartily commend this volume and trust it will find a large readership.”
—David S. Dockery, President, Union University

The Reason For God, by Timothy Keller

My friend Amy Bobo has reviewed Tim Keller’s book The Reason For God.  Here is an excerpt…

“Take the leap of doubt to discover your reasons for faith,” says Tim Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City. Whether you currently believe or you struggle with skepticism, doubts can be a divine invitation to grow your faith, deepen your relationship with God, and to mature into a person of substance.

With a 30-year ministry in the heart of Manhattan, Tim knows how to communicate the Gospel to this culture of intellect, and he does so with quiet dignity and respect for both sides, often acknowledging the personal, intellectual, social, and spiritual reasons people choose to think the way they do.

So, to everyone, Tim recommends we look at doubt in a radically new way. If believers go through life too busy or too apathetic to grapple with tough questions, where will we find ourselves when tragedy strikes? Or how can we truly befriend those struggling with doubt if we’ve never considered their points? And skeptics are challenged as well. Is there some bit of faith in something embedded in the arguments against God? Maybe it’s true that even our doubts are a leap of faith, because we are brave enough to consider the merits of our mostly deeply held convictions.

Click here to read more of the review.

Hypnosis

Watchman Fellowship recommends the following books on Hypnosis;

Encyclopedia of New Age Beliefs, by John Ankerberg and John Weldon

Hypnosis and the Christian, by Martin and Deidre Bobgan

Halloween

Watchman Fellowship recommends the following resources on Halloween;

The Facts on Halloween, by John Ankerberg and John Weldon

Halloween: What’s A Christian To Do?, by Steve Russo

Expelled – No Intelligence Allowed

“I recommend EXPELLED enthusiastically!”
- James C. Dobson, Ph.D., Chairman of the Board, Focus on the Family

“Four stars!” – Ted Baehr, Editor, MovieGuide

“A powerful and riveting film… every open-minded person will love it.”
- Rev. Donald E. Wildmon, Founder & Chairman of American Family Association

“EXPELLED is an enormously important project.”
- Michael Medved, national radio host

“We highly recommend EXPELLED to anybody.”
- Ken Smitherman, President, Association of Christian Schools International

“SEE THIS FILM, bring your friends and bring your church.”
- Lee Strobel, Author, Case for a Creator

“See EXPELLED and you’ll understand why they want to censor those who question their dogmas.” – Dr. Richard Land, Southern Baptist Convention

“Those who are suppressing belief in God and trying to make materialism the law of the land should beware. Ben Stein is on a mission to stop the suppression, and millions of Americans are behind him.”
- Pat Robertson, Host, 700 Club

“In EXPELLED, Ben Stein shows us what happens when academic freedom takes a day off. We should all be listening.”
- Carl Anderson, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus

“EXPELLED is both an eye-opening documentary and riotous entertainment.” – Joseph Farah, CEO, WorldNetDaily.com

“This movie may trigger a cultural revolution.”
- Dennis Wagner, Executive Director, Access Research Network

“EXPELLED could easily be one of the most important movies of the year.”
- Denny Rydberg, President, Young Life

“EXPELLED is earthshaking. I was absolutely blown away. Everyone in America, even skeptics of Intelligent Design, must see this film.”
- J. Matt Barber, Director for Cultural Issues, Concerned Women for America

“A cultural earthquake… Everyone I talked to after the screening used words like ‘fabulous’ and ‘incredible’.” – Dr. Tom Woodward, Director, C.S. Lewis Society

“A solid case for giving the theory of Intelligent Design a respected place in the classroom alongside Darwin’s theory of Evolution.”
- Dick Rolfe, Co-Founder and CEO, The Dove Foundation

That’s Just Your Interpretation

The following books are recommended for further reading in the Introduction to That’s Just Your Interpretation: Responding to Skeptics Who Challenge Your Faith, by Paul Copan.

How To Stay Christian in College (J. Budziszewski)

True For You, But Not For me: Deflating the Slogans That Leave Christians Speechless (Paul Copan)

Finding God At Harvard (Kelly Monroe)

Why Isn’t God More Obvious (Paul Moser)

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RELATED BOOKS

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